10 Ways to Get Rid of Your Student Loan Debt Faster

Now, you may think that NYRs are an idiotic concept. Fair enough. My roommate ranted for forty-five minutes on the subject just last week.

That's fine. Call it a resolution, call it a goal, call it good old fashioned budgeting and finance. Either way, the moment you have a job, your focus should turn to your debt. Here are ten ways to assess the debt, free up cash, and finish paying off your debt long before 2075.

As much as I'm left unsatisfied by my fourteen-year-old Honda Civic Si, my repair costs for the past year have been equal to one car payment on a more "lawyerly" vehicle, and my liability-only car insurance costs one-fifth of what full coverage would.

Of course, if your car is always in the shop, and the upkeep is pushing into monthly payment territory, consider a reasonable (used) upgrade. Just remember, car loans often require full insurance coverage.

Don't be a hermit. Loneliness, after all, kills. But instead of spending all night at $9 beer night, live like you're still in college. Pre-gaming with Brass Monkeys or boxed wine can cut your bar tab in half, if not more.

6. Prioritize Payments

Some of your debt carries a high interest rate. Some doesn't. Pay the high interest debt first. If you can, try getting a forbearance or deferring payments on the low-interest debt while you dump all of your disposable income into the high-interest debt.

5. Get Your Credit Sorted

How terrible is your credit score? Check out CreditKarma, a free credit monitoring service that will allow you to see who's dinging your score.

4. Balance Transferring

Speaking of credit, once your credit score is in order, if you have high-interest credit card debt, consider one of Nerd Wallet's best balance transfer cards to give yourself an 18-month break from interest and a more favorable rate thereafter.

3. Loan Consolidating

This is tough to advise for or against without looking at your individual loans, but it may beat making a dozen small monthly payments.